Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia have discovered a series of rock reliefs dating back some 2,000 years. The life-sized sculptures show realistic impressions of several animals, though they have been badly damaged by years of erosion and rough treatment by humans.

Researchers in Sweden have uncovered evidence of a behavior never seen before in ancient hunter-gatherers: the mounting of decapitated heads onto stakes. The grim discovery challenges our understanding of European Mesolithic culture and how these early humans handled their dead.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow might be a comic book show about a group of time-traveling heroes (only don’t call them that), but it also includes some history lessons. Of course, you have to take them all with a giant grain of salt—not only because a lot of events are ignored or changed, but also because the show has…

When footage of CBS’s 1967 coverage of Super Bowl I first emerged from the ashes seven years ago, sports historians reacted with glee. Long considered one of the Holy Grails of sportscasting history, the footage, found on a set of two-inch Quadruplex video tapes in a dusty Pennsylvania attic, provided a rare glimpse…

Mexican archaeologists have discovered a 2,400-year-old burial site in which 10 skeletons were meticulously placed in a circular formation and with their body parts interlocked. The researchers have never seen anything like it, with signs pointing to a previously unknown ritualistic practice.

Have you ever heard of Guion “Guy” Bluford—the first African American in space? Despite his major place in history, his name is surprisingly not very well-known. A new short film aims to change that, with the blessing of Bluford himself, who shared his own unpublished memoirs with the filmmakers.

Following the brutal Whitechapel murders of 1888, London police and media outlets were deluged with letters claiming to have been written by Jack the Ripper. While discerning the authorship of these messages, a researcher from the University of Manchester has concluded that two of the earliest letters were written by…

You probably never called it “cannabis”: When you were growing up, you might have referred to it as “pot” or “weed” or “trees.” Whatever the name, the plant has become exponentially more mainstream since Colorado became the first state to pass laws allowing its recreational use in early 2014. Despite Attorney General…

America’s involvement in the First World War was brief, but intense. For a period of 20 months, the government did its best to stir patriotic fervor, in part through the use of eye-catching propaganda posters. A new exhibit at Bruce Museum is showcasing a selection of these works, many of which are seriously lacking…

In 1967, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt vanished while swimming at a beach near his residence. He was presumed drowned, but his body was never recovered—giving rise to a Cold War-era mystery that continues to fascinate. Scott Mannion’s new short, The Defector, advances one rather tantalizing theory.

Way back before io9.gizmodo.com was a url, io9 covered science just as much as science fiction. When Annalee Newitz founded the site in 2008, she wanted it to focus on both as they increasingly intersected, and on how they could both lead culture—pop and otherwise—into the future.

She died 11,500 years ago at the tender age of six weeks in what is now the interior of Alaska. Dubbed “Sunrise Girl-child” by the local indigenous people, the remains of the Ice Age infant—uncovered at an archaeological dig in 2013—contained traces of DNA, allowing scientists to perform a full genomic analysis.…

Just six weeks into the First World War, Australian submarine HMAS AE1 disappeared without a trace somewhere off the coast of New Guinea, marking the first time an allied sub had been lost in the conflict. Marine archaeologists have now discovered the historic wreck, ending a mystery that has endured for over a…

Halfway between Brooklyn and Montauk, a steel cupola propped up on wooden legs once looked out over the Long Island Sound and beyond the horizon. Built in the first years of the 20th century, Wardenclyffe Tower served as the centerpiece of a real-life mad scientist’s laboratory. Lever pulling, lightning bolts,…

While preserving an 18th century wooden statue of Jesus, a team of Spanish restorers was surprised to discover a time capsule hidden within the hollowed-out ass portion of the carving. Written by a Catholic chaplain, the detailed document contains economic, political, and cultural information about the time period.

Lost for hundreds of years, a recently recovered map of Australia dating back to the 17th century has finally been restored and put on display at a museum in Canberra. The document chronicles the mapping efforts of explorers a full 100 years before Captain James Cook set sail for the Pacific.

2017 has been a brutal year in northern California, where a series of wildfires have burned through hundreds of thousands of acres of land and left dozens dead or missing. The deadly Tubbs fire in northern California, which is estimated to have burned roughly 5,300 buildings across 36,807 acres and killed at least 22…